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Laboratory Labeling

Labeling blood and other samples at the time they are collected improves patient safety and helps prevent a host of problems related to misidentification — including many of the estimated 160,900 adverse events that occur in U.S. hospitals annually because of sample identification errors. There is a strong and growing body of evidence within medical literature that creating specimen identification labels on demand at the patient bedside with a mobile printer can significantly reduce errors.

Accurate labeling at the point of care can prevent many specimen identification errors and resulting problems. Specimen labeling errors accounted for 55.5 percent of identification errors in a study conducted by the College of American Pathologists. Specimen labeling, the most common error, occurred more than twice as much as the second-most common cause.

The specimen label produced at the bedside is the crucial link between the benefits of automated management systems and real-world processes. There can be no specimen accuracy and patient safety benefits without durable labels and consistently excellent print quality. Label readability is the most important criteria when selecting a printer for specimen labeling. Barcodes, text and graphics must be clear and long lasting to provide accurate identification from the time of collection through to final disposal or storage. In addition, printers should be fast enough to produce labels on-demand without inconveniencing the phlebotomist.